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Practice starts today 8/22/25 for the IMSA race at VIR race this weekend
For IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers have weighed in on the new-for-2025 class split between the GTD Pro and GTD categories, with most having admitted to just being a “different” element to races.
In a change for this season, all GTD Pro class cars start each race ahead of the GTD pack, even if some of the Pro-Am driver-enforced entries end up quicker in qualifying, which is now run in separate 15-minute sessions.
Additionally, GTD Pro cars are cycled to the front of the pack while under most full-course cautions, helping provide direct on-track battles between cars in their respective classes.
This has led to mixed feelings within the paddock, particularly with GTD competitors, who had previously been able to leverage slower GTD Pro cars while fighting for positions in their own class.
“The intermingling of the two classes is interesting from the GTD field,” said Triarsi Competizione driver Kenton Koch.
“I’m sure a lot of the GTD competitors are kind of frustrated with that, but the GTD Pro guys are really, really happy about that, but that’s just kind of how the nature of the beast works.
“It’s something different that you have to adapt to, and it’s neither bad nor good. It’s just the way it is and what you have to do to make the best of the situation. It’s no complaints, it’s just different.”
Vasser Sullivan Lexus ace Jack Hawksworth, meanwhile, admits the new procedures are “pretty different” to what was in place since the launch of the GTD Pro class in 2022.
“I like it in the sense that you’re always racing the guys in your class off the start but where it does become confusing is you end up with much faster cars behind slower cars,” he said.
“For instance you look at Road America, the fastest car was the Mercedes-AMG, and they qualified on pole overall, and they had to start behind cars which in qualifying, and they were two or three seconds a lot faster than.
“So it definitely makes it interesting because you end up with a set of faster cars kind of stuck behind a set of slower cars, which bunches the field up.
“From a GTD perspective, if you were able to then get one or two of the GTD Pro cars between you and the other GTD cars, as long as another caution doesn’t come out, it’s quite a big advantage, and you can obviously then pull out a big gap artificially because you’ve got cars from the other class slowing down the front-runners in your class.
“It’s different. It makes it at the end of a race, if you’ve got a [late] restart or something, it’s kind of re-rack and kind of turns it into a shootout, which is exciting for everybody.
“Like Kenton said, it’s just different. I don’t really have an opinion on an opinion on it. It’s just different.”
When asked if it will be any different this weekend, being a GT-only race, Hawksworth said it could add a new dynamic.
“If you’re the GTD leader, you would probably want to leave a gap to the GTD Pro cars on a restart. But IMSA has been very inconsistent in the way that they call this gapping rule.
“Like sometimes you get a penalty, if you leave more than a 10 or 15-car length gap and then another time you can jump the start or be way behind and get a big run, and they allow it. So, it’s hard to know, really.
“For the GTD Pro guys, it will make a big difference because they won’t have to worry about the P2s or the GTPs in front of them, so they can time their own restart.
“But for the GTD guys, they still have the same situation [of being] held up behind the GTD Pro cars off the start and off the restart, and it becomes a kind of game of how much of a gap do you dare leave on one of these restarts.”
Koch added: “It can be frustrating for the GTD guys but by the same token, if you are buried in a pack of GTD cars, and you don’t have the pace, but you have got craft and your savvy, I think it gives those guys opportunities to potentially get track position because that backed half of the GTD Pro field on a restart that might hold up the fast guys.
“It can actually add a whole other [element that’s] maybe good for the guys in the middle of the GTD field, but, frustrating for the top half of the GTD field.”
Ford Multimatic Motorsports driver Mike Rockenfeller, a front-runner in the GTD Pro class, meanwhile, says he prefers the new system IMSA introduced this year.
“For me, personally, last year I raced the first year in GTD Pro and the restarts, we didn’t have a class split,” he said.
“I preferred much more like it is [now]. When you wanted to race the guys you are racing [in class] and sometimes there were ten cars in between you and your next GTD Pro and there’s obviously no way that you make it back to your GTD Pro guy or GTD, it doesn’t matter whoever you race or which category.
“I think it’s a lot better, the way it is. I prefer it, but of course, like Jack said, basically, if the pace difference is as big as it sometimes has been, then it’s not so much fun sometimes… for both.
“I have been in the GTD Pro [car] not being able to be fast enough compared to the quickest GTD. That is something you don’t like for sure.
“And I guess the guy in the GTD [car] is kind of not happy if he’s held up.
“It’s not like a different category, really; the cars are the same. In prototype, it’s different, you just go through, and you race your guys, but here it’s sometimes it’s tough.
“But it’s part of the game, and it sometimes plays in your way and sometimes not, but I think in general the racing, it’s a lot of fun in your own category, for sure.
“I think this year it’s much cleaner in that respect that people understand, which category you are in, because the cars are the same.
I think for the fans, it’s a lot better that we see the battles in-between each GT category. That’s my opinion.”
For IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers have weighed in on the new-for-2025 class split between the GTD Pro and GTD categories, with most having admitted to just being a “different” element to races.
In a change for this season, all GTD Pro class cars start each race ahead of the GTD pack, even if some of the Pro-Am driver-enforced entries end up quicker in qualifying, which is now run in separate 15-minute sessions.
Additionally, GTD Pro cars are cycled to the front of the pack while under most full-course cautions, helping provide direct on-track battles between cars in their respective classes.
This has led to mixed feelings within the paddock, particularly with GTD competitors, who had previously been able to leverage slower GTD Pro cars while fighting for positions in their own class.
“The intermingling of the two classes is interesting from the GTD field,” said Triarsi Competizione driver Kenton Koch.
“I’m sure a lot of the GTD competitors are kind of frustrated with that, but the GTD Pro guys are really, really happy about that, but that’s just kind of how the nature of the beast works.
“It’s something different that you have to adapt to, and it’s neither bad nor good. It’s just the way it is and what you have to do to make the best of the situation. It’s no complaints, it’s just different.”
Vasser Sullivan Lexus ace Jack Hawksworth, meanwhile, admits the new procedures are “pretty different” to what was in place since the launch of the GTD Pro class in 2022.
“I like it in the sense that you’re always racing the guys in your class off the start but where it does become confusing is you end up with much faster cars behind slower cars,” he said.
“For instance you look at Road America, the fastest car was the Mercedes-AMG, and they qualified on pole overall, and they had to start behind cars which in qualifying, and they were two or three seconds a lot faster than.
“So it definitely makes it interesting because you end up with a set of faster cars kind of stuck behind a set of slower cars, which bunches the field up.
“From a GTD perspective, if you were able to then get one or two of the GTD Pro cars between you and the other GTD cars, as long as another caution doesn’t come out, it’s quite a big advantage, and you can obviously then pull out a big gap artificially because you’ve got cars from the other class slowing down the front-runners in your class.
“It’s different. It makes it at the end of a race, if you’ve got a [late] restart or something, it’s kind of re-rack and kind of turns it into a shootout, which is exciting for everybody.
“Like Kenton said, it’s just different. I don’t really have an opinion on an opinion on it. It’s just different.”
When asked if it will be any different this weekend, being a GT-only race, Hawksworth said it could add a new dynamic.
“If you’re the GTD leader, you would probably want to leave a gap to the GTD Pro cars on a restart. But IMSA has been very inconsistent in the way that they call this gapping rule.
“Like sometimes you get a penalty, if you leave more than a 10 or 15-car length gap and then another time you can jump the start or be way behind and get a big run, and they allow it. So, it’s hard to know, really.
“For the GTD Pro guys, it will make a big difference because they won’t have to worry about the P2s or the GTPs in front of them, so they can time their own restart.
“But for the GTD guys, they still have the same situation [of being] held up behind the GTD Pro cars off the start and off the restart, and it becomes a kind of game of how much of a gap do you dare leave on one of these restarts.”
Koch added: “It can be frustrating for the GTD guys but by the same token, if you are buried in a pack of GTD cars, and you don’t have the pace, but you have got craft and your savvy, I think it gives those guys opportunities to potentially get track position because that backed half of the GTD Pro field on a restart that might hold up the fast guys.
“It can actually add a whole other [element that’s] maybe good for the guys in the middle of the GTD field, but, frustrating for the top half of the GTD field.”
Ford Multimatic Motorsports driver Mike Rockenfeller, a front-runner in the GTD Pro class, meanwhile, says he prefers the new system IMSA introduced this year.
“For me, personally, last year I raced the first year in GTD Pro and the restarts, we didn’t have a class split,” he said.
“I preferred much more like it is [now]. When you wanted to race the guys you are racing [in class] and sometimes there were ten cars in between you and your next GTD Pro and there’s obviously no way that you make it back to your GTD Pro guy or GTD, it doesn’t matter whoever you race or which category.
“I think it’s a lot better, the way it is. I prefer it, but of course, like Jack said, basically, if the pace difference is as big as it sometimes has been, then it’s not so much fun sometimes… for both.
“I have been in the GTD Pro [car] not being able to be fast enough compared to the quickest GTD. That is something you don’t like for sure.
“And I guess the guy in the GTD [car] is kind of not happy if he’s held up.
“It’s not like a different category, really; the cars are the same. In prototype, it’s different, you just go through, and you race your guys, but here it’s sometimes it’s tough.
“But it’s part of the game, and it sometimes plays in your way and sometimes not, but I think in general the racing, it’s a lot of fun in your own category, for sure.
“I think this year it’s much cleaner in that respect that people understand, which category you are in, because the cars are the same.
I think for the fans, it’s a lot better that we see the battles in-between each GT category. That’s my opinion.”